Fun DMC: Kid Friendly Hip Hop Parties in London & Beyond
In one of those highly scientific polls that gets passed around on Facebook, I once asked my friends to describe me using the letter D. Apparently I’m Delicious, Delightful and a De Niro Devourer! A word that popped up more than once was ‘Dancer’.
Yup, I love to dance. Even when I was heavy of bump, you could find me strutting my stuff on any dance floor that could still accommodate me. Luckily the babes have inherited my groovy gene. This cute video of then 4-year-old Jed and his big bro pulling moves at Street Feast always brings a tear (of laughter, mostly) to my eye. I can’t count the number of festivals where the boys have been throwing shapes, surrounded by a crowd of people shouting ‘Go shawty!’ or something along those lines! They get it from their mama.
We had our first taste of Fun DMC block party for hip hop-loving families at Big Feastival a couple of years back. I’d been wanting to check out their London events for ages. Last Sunday, we headed to Hoxton Bar & Kitchen for Fun DMC featuring Jazzie B on decks!
The godfather of Soul II Soul aka original Funky Dredd, Jazzie B is a London music legend. As our Fun DMC host quipped, he’s unofficially the Queen’s favourite DJ (that’s Jazzie B OBE to you). I was lucky to catch Soul II Soul in concert fairly recently at Kew the Music, but it was sweet to see him working the knee-high crowd on Sunday.
Jazzie B said he wished Fun DMC was around when he was a brand new papa. Looking at today’s daytime party scene, it’s easy to take it for granted that you can go out dancing with your baby. From the original Baby Loves Disco, to east London lovelies Disco Loco and our favourite family ravers, the multiple award-winning Big Fish Little Fish, there are loads of spots to tear it up with the rug rats. Few things put party-loving parents in a better mood than an afternoon boogie with their tiny dancers.
Launched by DJ dad Charlie Dark and the Doctor’s Orders party collective, Fun DMC promotes kid-friendly hip hop in a relaxed setting. If their Jazzie B event was anything to go by, it attracts families with newborns (seriously, one mum seemed to have brought her baby straight from the delivery room) up to tweens and early teens. Fly girls and boys get busy on the graffiti wall, plus there’s gold chains for best dancers, hip hop fancy dress and colouring sheets, licensed bar and tasty food options.
I was so pleased to meet one of my readers on the dance floor. She thanked me for my blog and said it was the reason she’d started taking her son to so many events around London. Babes about Town has always been about making the most of the city with your little ones, highlighting stuff that’s fun for grownups too. Fun DMC definitely ticks those boxes. Hip hop hooray!
Fun DMC is hosting a FREE party at Southbank Centre’s Clore Ballroom over Easter holidays (Apr 9). Visit http://www.fundmc.co.uk/ for more upcoming events.
London Kids Weekend Scoop (March 9-12, 2017)
